Karinya House
Oct 2023 – Mar 2024
The Challenge
Karinya House supports pregnant and early parenting women in Canberra and surrounding regions with around-the-clock support through accommodation, transitional housing, outreach services and support groups.
Strategic Development Group collaborated with Karinya House to author this data-driven review to support the organisation to verify its hypothesis regarding unmet demand across the region and understand the characteristics of the unmet needs of the women and their babies who are currently unable to access support.
The Solution
To begin the demand analysis, we conducted a comprehensive literature review. Karinya House's clients are women who are likely to be experiencing a range of intersecting challenges and hardships, so it was crucial we had an intersectional approach to our research. The key word was "data," with Karinya House very much wanting a "data-driven" report.
Our approach involved significant statistical and numerical data analysis, with supplied data from Karinya House, as well as public territory and federal numbers.
We brought together the mixed methodology of qualitative and quantitative data, telling a story that suggested that this piece of work was as much about what the data didn't say, as what it did. The resulting report was really about what wasn't there: Missing data, unmet demand, and gaps.
The Outcome
We produced a comprehensive report built upon synthesised quantitative and qualitative data which demonstrated the intersectional nature of vulnerability and marginalisation for pregnant and early parenting women in crisis across the ACT. Additionally, we produced an abridged presentation, highlighting the key takeaways from the initiative. We also presented the findings to a key funder for Karinya House.
The needs analysis sowed the seeds for a continuing, productive working relationship with Karinya House, with potential for further engagement in the development of a data strategy to inform their organisation’s strategic objectives.
